A Very Long Engagement | 
| Director: Jean-pierre Jeunet
Actors: Audrey Tautou, Gaspard Ulliel, Dominique Pinon, Chantal Neuwirth, Andr? Dussollier
Studio: Warner Bros.
Buy New: $2.99
Rating:  113 reviews
Sales Rank: 2072
Genre: Drama
Rating: R (Restricted)
Media: Video On Demand
Running Time: 134 Minutes
ASIN: B000P3GFYM
Theatrical Release Date: April 2, 2004
Release Date: November 10, 2008 (New: Last 30 Days)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Synopsis:
Near the end of World War I in France, five nearly hopeless men shoot themselves in order to escape the horror of the frontline trenches at the Somme. They are court-martialed under mysterious circumstances and as punishment, are pushed out of an allied trench into no-man's land, left alone to die a horrible death. The fianc?e of one of the men, suddenly receives some information that leads her to believe her boyfriend might have somehow been able to escape his prescribed fate. She sets out on a painful and frustrating search for the truth, which also leads her to learn about the absurdity of war, the strangeness of secrecy, and the enduring passion and tenacity of the human heart. Based on the acclaimed novel by Sebastian Japrisot. Nominated for two Academy Awards! Starring Audrey Tatou ("Dirty Pretty Things," "Amelie"), Jodie Foster ("Panic Room," "Contact"), Dominique Pinon ("The Da Vinci Code," "Amelie") and Tch?ky Karyo ("Taking Lives," "The Patriot"). |
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| Customer Reviews: Read 108 more reviews...
 Mesmerizing January 17, 2005
Joseph Haschka (Glendale, CA USA)
215 out of 221 found this review helpful
My understanding is that France has declined to submit A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT for Oscar consideration as 2004's Best Foreign Film. I can't imagine why not.
War is not glorious. Especially if you're Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), a young French soldier convicted by a military court, along with four others, of committing self-mutilation with the intent of escaping service in the front lines of World War I. The punishment is grotesque. Rather than death by firing squad, the five are forced over the top of the most forward trench and into the No Man's Land between the French and German positions - there to die by whatever bullet, mortar shell, or bomb strikes them down. The subsequent deaths of all five are attested to. Letters are sent to surviving family members by the French authorities saying their boys died in battle. This was in 1917.
Mathilde (Audrey Tatou) was Manech's fiancee when he marched off to war. She's also crippled in one leg after having been afflicted with polio at a very young age. In 1920, she's contacted by a dying survivor of the war, ex-Sergeant Esperanza (Jean-Pierre Becker), who'd been in charge of the provost detail assigned to escort the five condemned men to the front trench, as well as act as carrier of the last missive each was permitted to write home. He tells Mathilde of their bizarre fate, and gives her their last letters, which he's kept since the war's end. Using these and the veteran's story to provide clues, Mathilde embarks on a lengthy search for the truth behind Manech's death with the help of a private investigator (Ticky Holgado). Interviewing friends, family members, and lovers of Marech's four condemned companions, as well as other soldiers present in the trench, Mathilde needs to answer the question, "Is Manech truly dead?" She has no doubts; he's alive. But, the evidence is elusive and inconsistent.
As crafted by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet, A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT is a hypnotic tale of mystery, official cover-ups, lies, misperceptions, secrets, coincidence, tenuous clues, guilt, innocence, honor, and, ultimately, love. Jeunet has created a masterpiece of special FX, lighting, unusual camera angles, split screen images, breathtaking panoramas, and visual asides. And then there are the entrancing depths of Audrey Tatou's brown eyes, in which I could happily lose myself forever. There's not been the likes of this young actress since Audrey Hepburn.
Though not advertised as such, this film is a gut wrenching depiction of World War I trench warfare. It's perhaps the best I've ever seen, especially when shown in contrast to gentle Mathilde's quest through post-war Paris and the luminous French countryside.
Astute and sardonic Mathilde, perhaps because of her affliction, is a take-no-prisoners dynamo of perseverance. No obstacle is too great that it can't be overcome. In the end, she finds ... Truth. And, if you see A VERY LONG ENGAGEMENT, you'll experience amazement, delight, and tears. For me, it's 2004's Best Foreign Film no matter what the Academy votes.
 Lush with a depth only seen in our dreams. January 16, 2005
girldiver (tangled up in blue.)
90 out of 97 found this review helpful
Yes, I said, "lush". This movie visually encompasses the colors found in our most beautiful dreams and yet is in many aspects reflective in it's depiction of WWI through the eyes of the French. It is an epic tale of romantic hope during WWI that follows the investigative journey of a young woman named Mathilde played by Audrey Tatou (Amelie, Dirty Pretty Things) who is trying to find out what has happened to her lover.
Several plots are played out through out Mathildes' search. At first you blindly follow the scenes and then slowly the stories become knitted together as you discover along with Mathilde the truth her loves circumstance. I enjoyed the interweaving of the story and the wonderful directing that held this movie together so well by director Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, Alien Resurrection).
Most of all, I loved the cinematography. Thank you, Bruno Delbonnel! Mr. Delbonnel (The Cat's Meow, Amelie) created the visually lush colors in this film with his wonderful talent in the art of cinematoghraphy. This film is lush and beautiful with it's fabulous color in the country scenes to it dramatic sephia effect during the war scenes. Together with Jean-Pierre Jeunet, Mr. Delbonnel has created a wonderful film and piece of art.
Finally, I'd like to mention the supporting actors associated with this film: Jodie Foster, Julie Depardieu, Marion Cotillard, Gaspard Ulliel, Tcheky Karyo, and Clovis Cornillac. This is a wonderful french film with depth, beauty, hope, and like all the French films I've seen a quirky sense of humor that enhances the wonderful art of life.
girldiver:)
Long but enchanting December 18, 2004
E. A Solinas (MD USA)
28 out of 28 found this review helpful
Sure, the name is an open target for dumb jokes. But Sebastien Japrisot's haunting romance "A Very Long Engagement" translates well onto the big screen, with a bit of help from "Amelie" director Jean-Pierre Jeunet and the wonderful Audrey Tautou.
Mathilde (Audrey Tautou) is a pretty young girl who was left crippled by polio, and is being raised by her uncle and aunt. Before World War I, she fell in love with a boy called Manech (Gaspard Ulliel), but he was sent to the war and killed. Three years later, Mathilde gets a mysterious letter with shocking news: Manech was not killed in action, but condemned to death by being sent unarmed to the front lines -- and miraculously, he might still be alive.
Mathilde is determined to find her lover -- dead or alive -- and learn what really happened on that day three years ago. So she puts out ads in the papers, gathers accounts, and hires a detective to follow the cold trail. And slowly the gaps in the stories emerge, giving Mathilde clues to whether Manech died... and where he might be now.
"A Very Long Engagement" (French title: "Un Long Dimanche de Fiancailles") diddles a few details from the novel, but is faithful to it in the ways that matter -- the "MMM" inscriptions, the non-linear storytelling, the horrors of World War I. In some ways, it seems almost impossible to transfer onto film without creating a pretentious mess -- but it wasn't.
Jean-Pierre Jeunet proves that "Amelie" was no fluke, but this time he relies mostly on visual artistry, rather than in magical realism. He also reminds us, by displaying the French countryside along with flashbacks of the front lines, that war is stupid and wasteful. But it's not an obvious, slam-in-your-face reminder. Like the romance, it's delicate and wistful.
The only problem with "A Very Long Engagement" is the "long" part -- it's truly exquisite, but it does drag a bit. Since it can be summed up as "girl searches for her seemingly dead lover," there are only a few twists along the way. But the beautiful visuals may make up for that in part. The cinematography by Bruno Delbonnel is particularly striking, tinted in sepia or black and white. The entire movie has the feeling of an old photograph brought to life.
The love between Manech and Mathilde is not a grand passion, but it is a very real love -- it's not implausible to believe that two such people might have existed. Tautou is sweetly elfin as Mathilde, creating a likable heroine that it's impossible not to root for. Ulliel gives an equally good performance as the boyish, naive Manech, a perfect match for Mathilde.
"A Very Long Engagement" is a truly beautiful follow-up to the magical "Amelie" -- a war story, a love story, and a mystery all in one. Enchanting.
I Want to Marry a Lighthouse Keeper November 8, 2005
Grinalltheway
24 out of 25 found this review helpful
I was prepared to dislike "Un long dimanche de fiancailles", reasoning that a 131 minute French WWI era epic costing $56 Million would be bloated and ponderous, in the tradition of "Gone With the Wind". Instead I found a complex story that blended visual mastery with emotional intimacy. While the huge budget was there for all to see in the wonderful production design, it did not overwhelm the human elements of the film.
If you have not seen this film try to imagine a "Paths of Glory" premise, leading to a woman's obsessive quest on almost the intensity level of Truffaut's "The Story of Adele H", and revealed in a storytelling style like that of Akira Kurosawa's "Rashomon".
Like Kurosawa's classic, Jean-Pierre Jeunet's "Un long dimanche de fiancailles" illustrates the subjectivity of truth. In this case soldiers in both the French and the German trenches witness the disciplinary banishment of five French soldiers to the "no-mans-land" between their trenches (apparently the French were enamored enough by the English term for this area that they adopted it). As the heroine and her detective track down individual survivors they discover conflicting accounts of what became of each marooned soldier. Each witness saw the same thing but from their own individual perspective. Obviously this misdirection device is not original (see "The Hole" for a particularly nice recent example) but it is very effective and is simply one weapon in a director's arsenal of ways to take the viewer where they want them to go.
Amelie" star Audrey Tautou, the "Adele H" of this film, is a young woman who refuses ("An albatross is stubborn, he knows he can outlast the wind") to believe her fiancee and childhood sweetheart is dead. They have been in love since age nine. French films are big on this childhood sweetheart angle. Although I have never known an actual couple who can trace their romantic involvement all the way back to this early age, it does provide an excuse for some of the film's best scenes; the polio disabled girl being carried to the top of the lighthouse by her young admirer, where they kiss each other on opposite sides of the glass window.
"Un long dimanche de fiancailles's" greatest strength is also it's greatest weakness as the complex "Rashomon-like" storytelling technique and huge array of characters and incidents requires close attention or careful note taking to keep viewers from being overwhelmed. This is made even more challenging by the need to read subtitles (unless your French is way better than mine) while attempting to view the action.
It could benefit from a little selective trimming, like losing the moronic and completely unnecessary hospital scene with the silly exploding hydrogen balloon. This scene does not fit the tone and texture of the film but it probably cost so much to stage that they felt compelled to utilize it. It subtracts 10 IQ points from the target audience.
Tautou's character Mathilde is able to enlist the aid of a famous private detective (The Peerless Pry) at a bargain price because his own little girl is likewise a polio victim. Two recurrent devices are used repeatedly to unify this complex story. The first is Mathilde's heartbreakingly vivid reliance upon little superstitions to tell her if her soldier is still alive ("if I reach the bend before the car Manech will return safely"). The second is a comic relief bit involving the rural postman's dramatic arrival on his bicycle with the latest dispatch to advance the story ("When I see gravel I make it a point of arriving in style').
Fortunately, Jeunet does not give into the temptation to go out on an overly dramatic note but instead ends with a restrained poetic voice-over. Very nice.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
From the Director of "Amelie" March 16, 2005
thornhillatthemovies.com (Venice, CA United States)
17 out of 17 found this review helpful
There are a handful of directors who create films that are always interesting and I eagerly anticipate the release of their films, flocking to the theater on opening weekend. I know that even if Clint Eastwood, Terry Zwigoff, Patrice Laconte, Peter Greenaway and others, park an actor in front of the camera reading the phone book, (I'm looking at you, Greenaway. "8 Women"? What were you thinking?), these bad films will have some element that is interesting and help them rise above the rest of the pack. I count on these directors to lift my spirits and prove to me that film can still be an art form.
Jean- Pierre Jeunet, a member of this club, creates films jam packed with unique, interesting visual details. This level of enhancement in his films helps create the fantasy worlds that are the setting to his films, to such a degree that you never doubt their existence. The addition of memorable, believable characters and an interesting story helps raise his films to a level not achieved by many other directors.
"A Very Long Engagement", his follow up to "Amelie", one of my favorite films of all time, also stars Audrey Tautou. However, the similarities pretty much end there.
Manech (Gaspard Ulliel) is one of five French soldiers sentenced to death for self-mutilation during World War I. For their sentence, they are taken to the front line, a place called Bingo Crepuscule. The orders are to send them over the front line and let the Germans, the freezing cold, starvation, or a combination take care of them. Mathilde (Tautou), Manech's lover, learns of all of this later. She is told that Manech was killed, but doesn't, can't, believe it. Searching for Manech, she leaves her aunt and uncle's idyllic seaside farmhouse, for the journey. She will meet anyone and follow any lead that might prove to her that Manech is still alive.
"Engagement" is a beautiful film to watch. This may seem strange, given that a third of the film takes places during the first world war. As Mathilde makes her way along the journey, Jeunet crafts a picture perfect rendition of early 20th Century France. The country scenes are idyllic, and would seem to be easier to craft, but they blend seemlessly with the sepia-toned images of Paris. A scene set in a busy marketplace in Paris was obviously created with the aid of CGI, not because it is faulty in any way, but because it is so perfect and expansive. The scenes set on the front lines are equally memorable for their quick, incisive images that convey the horrors of war.
Jeunet tries to recreate many film conventions from the Silent film era. He uses an iris camera movement a few times, paints the images in sepia tones and more. These `ticks', for lack of a better word, actually aid in the recreation of this world. They help us forget that we are watching a film made last year. Perhaps it was actually made during the silent era, or the early days of talkies. Perhaps they actually filmed in that crowded marketplace in the middle of Paris. Was that a real locomotive? A real bi-plane?
The film should also be applauded for it's restraint with music. Many scenes have no musical score, allowing the viewer to experience and feel emotions that you experience. The music doesn't broadcast the emotions the filmmaker expects you to feel. This further aids in a moving and genuine experience.
Audrey Tautou became a sensation in France and well-known here for her role in "Amelie", a role so infectious and lovable. In "Engagement", the laughter is almost wholly replaced by drama and she is very memorable as Mathilde. Mathilde is on a quest. Her life's love has been pronounced dead, but she doesn't believe it. Tautou conveys the love her character feels which makes us believe in her quest.
All of the actors, and there are many, create characters that are believable and add to the fabric of the story. Also, each of these characters has a unique backstory, which we learn about, during the course of the film. Even Jodie Foster, who plays a supporting character, makes you forget that you are watching American Film Star Jodie Foster.
Every single element of Jeunet's films is crafted with such detail that you often forget you are watching a film and get swept up in the story he is telling. Isn't that the mark of a great filmmaker?
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